Research Grants

Research at SEAS is growing. Our research expenditures have increased by 30% as our faculty continue to successfully compete for research grants across a range of disciplines. The departmental listing below includes just a sample of recently awarded grants.

Researcher:Dr. Murray LoewResearch project title: Glass at Risk: simple tools for detecting unstable glass in 19th century cultural heritage collectionsGranting organization: National Endowment for the HumanitiesFunding: $350,000Purpose: To create tools that assist in the identification of at-risk glass heritage collection items. Specifically, the grant will support research to develop simple tools, including imaging, organized into a “decision tree” that will allow end-users of varying backgrounds and abilities, from curators and collectors to conservators and conservation scientists, to better identify the risk posed by unstable 19th century glass in historical collections.Collaborators: Catholic University of America and The Library of Congress

Researcher:Dr. Samer HamdarResearch project title: Research Assistant Support for Staff Projects in the Office of Safety Research and DevelopmentGranting organization: Federal Highway Administration (U.S. Department of Transportation)Funding: $125,533 (subcontract from Battelle, Inc.)Purpose: To provide support to the Federal Highway Administration (U.S. Department of Transportation)Collaborators: Battelle, Inc.

Researcher:Dr. Xiuzhen (Susan) ChengResearch project title: Privacy Attacks and Defense Mechanisms in Online Social NetworksGranting organization: National Science FoundationFunding: $1.1 million/Dr. Cheng’s share of the grant is $544,168Purpose: To identify the potential privacy disclosure channels in online social networks and study privacy-preserving countermeasures that suppress access to private information from unauthorized entities without impeding the ability for users to initiate social interactions and share user-created content via online social networksCollaborators: George Mason University and Georgia State University

Researcher:Dr. Xiuzhen (Susan) ChengResearch project title: Acquisition, Collection, and Computation of Dynamic Big Sensory Data in Smart CitiesGranting organization: National Science FoundationFunding: $1.15 million/Dr. Cheng’s share of the grant is $279,107Purpose: To develop foundations and technologies for the analytical use of big sensory data to benefit smart cities for monitoring and controlCollaborators: George Mason University, Georgia State University, and Virginia Commonwealth University

Researcher:Drs. Tarek El-Ghazawi and Volker SorgerResearch project title: RAISE: The Reconfigurable Optical Computer (ROC)Granting organization: National Science FoundationFunding: $900,000Purpose: To create a nano-photonic, analog, reconfigurable computer that is capable of computing out of first principles by solving those partial differential equations (PDEs) that are used for most simulations in science and engineering

Researcher:Drs. Tarek El-Ghazawi and Volker SorgerResearch project title: Collaborative Research: Nanophotonic Neuromorphic ComputingGranting organization: National Science Foundation and the Semiconductor Research CorporationFunding: $1.3 million/GW’s share of the grant is $830,000Purpose: To achieve orders of magnitude improvements over today’s computing technologies through nano-photonic-enabled computing (NEC), using innovative principles for processing and architectures that depart from the traditional von Neumann digital computer systems and their limitationsCollaborator: Princeton University

Researcher: Dr. Roger LangResearch project title: Dielectric Constant Measurements for Remote Sensing of Seawater SalinityGranting organization: NASAFunding: $470,000Purpose: To continue measuring the dielectric constant of seawater. This latest research will focus on taking measurements in cold seawater, where an accurate knowledge of the relationship between the dielectric constant of seawater, its temperature, and salinity are needed for satellite retrieval algorithms.

Researcher:Dr. Ekundayo ShittuResearch project title: Collaborative Research: Broadening participation and strengthening capacity in interdisciplinary engineering model developmentGranting organization: National Science FoundationFunding: $300,000/Dr. Shittu’s share of the grant is $199,906Purpose: To identify effective strategies to aid students’ capabilities to develop and apply mathematical models for problem solving in engineering; to enhance understanding of how thinking and narrative identity evolve over time and how the process of coaching scholars of color in a supportive academic context might strengthen the value proposition of entering the professoriateCollaborator: North Carolina A&T State University

Researcher:Dr. Lorena BarbaResearch project title: Cyberinfrastructure Reproducibility Project: Computational Science and EngineeringGranting organization: National Science FoundationFunding: $299,847Purpose: To use methodical replication of studies in computational fluid dynamics as the model for understanding sources of non-reproducibility in science, and for developing guiding principles of study design that can guarantee, as much as possible, reproducible findings

Researcher:Dr. Michael KeidarResearch project title: Software for the Predictive Synthesis of Nanoparticles in PlasmasGranting organization: U.S. Department of EnergyFunding: $750,000/Dr. Keidar’s share of the grant is $200,000Purpose: To develop a plasma-based technique for the synthesis of novel 2D layered materials